LESSONS FROM THE CURRENT ELECTIONS IN INDIA
05/30/2019
Many in the Christian community prayed fervently for the elections that took place in India. Not only that there were prophecies regarding the outcome of the elections. Now, in light of the results of the elections; there are several important truths that the church must be clear on.
1) God works through His church to bring changes in the society; the government is not the other way around.
This is a fundamental truth that we need to be clear on. The life of God that brings transformation within the body of Christ is the life that dispels darkness on the outside also. Now the government will at some point be a vehicle for those changes to become as laws if the church is effective in the society.
Not only that when the influence of the church extends to all spheres of life, the government will be influenced positively also. As a result there will be rest and peace in the community.
Good governance has its effects in the society but the standards and values of good governance come from the influence of the church in society which is established in the word of God.
On the contrary; if we miss this vital truth and start to look on the government as the vehicle that brings change in the country, we stand on a wrong foundation. It is indirectly substituting the role of the church as the primary and only true source of change in the society. Since this foundation is itself wrong; every effort put in from this foundation (including prayers for the govt) mostly will tend to be of the flesh.
2)First priority is change in the people that govern not the government! The government is not the enemy but people who oppose the truth.
In the New Testament times the church was vibrant and lively. Its life (good influence) caused it much opposition from all spheres of society including the government. When people who love darkness are confronted with the truth they will rebel against it or try to suppress the truth. This is in all spheres of influence and the government is just one of them! So the govt is not the enemy or any particular institution but people who hate the truth are the real adversaries and not institutions.
The church in those times suffered greatly as a result of the opposition but it continued to shine, continued to spread life and soon the government of that day recognized Christianity as the main religion of that time and Christian laws were enforced.
They didn’t focus on praying for a change of government (this is not to say that they might not have prayed) but we see that they prayed for changes in the people that govern; for them to know Christ. Their priority was that the aroma of Christ spread everywhere. This in turn resulted in changes in the people that govern and even change of governments.
When we pray for a change of government more than for changes in the people that govern our priorities are misplaced. God is not into redeeming institutions but He is into redeeming people. Misplaced priorities are a sign that we have gotten off track!
3) All authorities are appointed by God therefore we must respect them and pray for them.
Today we live in a democratic society. It is the opposite of dictatorship. In dictatorship, one cannot speak against the leader neither is there any room for difference of opinions or disagreements. In a democratic society there is a place for disagreements and difference of opinions. However; today with pride and rebellion growing in society as a whole, democracy has given a platform for cruel and disrespectful talk against leaders. This is totally against the biblical moral of respect and honor that needs to be given to leaders.
Even if the leaders are wrong; respect and honor must still be given to them according to the office they hold. This does not mean we blindly accept or follow their mistakes; we do see their mistakes and address them if necessary but we deal with those mistakes maintaining respect, displaying love and wisdom.
In the church when disrespect is shown to people in authority, it is usually a sign of pride and rebellion. Anything that proceeds from pride and rebellion is motivated by the enemy and there is nothing spiritual about it. Careless and disrespectful talk against leaders must be quickly corrected and repented of.
The church must be an example, showing the way in humility, honor and respect towards those in authority.
4) Our battle is not against flesh and blood. Walk in the Spirit before warring (praying) in the Spirit.
Today; there are those in authority who might stand against us and against the progress of the gospel. The way we confront that is by walking in the Spirit and not the flesh. Then when we pray, it allows God to work in that situation.
This is because there are spiritual forces behind those who work to stop the progress of the gospel. If we don’t walk in the Spirit we’ve disqualified ourselves from seeing and praying the way God wants from us in that situation
If they rail against us, we bless them; if they persecute us; we do good to them. We walk in love and humility towards those who walk in arrogance and hate. This is does not make us weak. While in the world’s standards it might seem that way, it is the most powerful form of offense against the enemy.
The way Jesus won the battle on the cross is by displaying love and humility in the place of ultimate hate and arrogance. Demonic powers were working behind people and when Jesus walked in the Spirit it totally destroyed the enemy. Today we celebrate the cross; a symbol of ultimate love and humility. If Jesus won the victory walking in the Spirit; we can enforce the victory by walking in the Spirit.
Our prayers will amount to nothing if we have hatred and disrespect to those in authority. On the contrary when our actions and prayers line up in the Spirit it becomes a formidable force demolishing strongholds and brazen doors.
5) Not my will but Thy will be done !
Facing persecution is not an easy thing; only those who have walked through that pathway can really understand the difficulties of it. So it is understandable when we want to be free of persecution.
However, we look to the word of God to show us how we must respond during persecution.
Christ made it very clear that we will face persecution. He also said that we should rejoice because our rewards in heaven will be great if we are persecuted. The early church counted it as a joy to suffer for Christ because they saw clearly the great sacrifice of Christ for them and also the rewards that awaited in eternity.
As difficult as this might seem; it is not the New Testament precedent to pray away persecution but rather that God gives the believer strength to stand firm in the midst of persecution. This is not to say we shouldn’t ask God for rest and peace but if we don’t have the Biblical perspective of facing persecution above then we are standing on a false premise when asking God to remove persecution.
Anything that proceeds from this false premise will be false. Our discernment will become clouded and we will be talking and speaking our desires rather than what God wants and desires. Our prayer in situations like this should be ” God what is thy will “? And if His will is that we must pass through the fire then “God not my will but thy will be done”.!!
(LESSONS FROM INDIAN ELECTIONS – PART 2)
